Gym Basics: Setting a Goal to Lose Weight

Starting a gym habit can be simple for some. Not many, but they exist. For others (like myself, and probably you), it can be tough to overcome your own inertia.

I find that having a clear goal, even if it is broad, can help overcome the resistance that comes from your own brain. If you're reading this, you probably have some vague notion of losing weight.

Let's make that goal a little more refined.

Having a clear goal when you start out helps save you from wasting time. It will also help you decide:

1. What kind of workouts you should be doing

2. How often you should be working out

3. What resources (time, money, attention) you should be devoting to your health and fitness regime.

This is all important stuff, and will really keep you from looking back with pain and regret.

There are excellent resources for setting goals available all over the internet (this article has a great breakdown, and some additional resources). While I am not a "goal expert," I am a personal trainer, and goals are a big part of what I help clients to define.

Today I will break down The Big One. Others to follow.

I want to lose weight.

This one is extremely common, and for good reason. More than 2 in 5 adults in the U.S. are obese. Even more people are overweight (source). You CAN be healthy at any size, but it is usually easier to be healthy at a weight in the "normal" BMI range based on your height (not my terms, don't @ me). So if you want to lose weight, know that you are in good company, and that weight loss is a reasonable health and fitness goal.

Disclaimer: I am not here to tell you what your goal should be. I am simply laying out ways to succeed in the goal of losing weight. If that is not your goal, just skip this post!

So, how do you go about losing weight?

1. Start slow. I know you want to drop everything, make a meal plan, throw out all your junk food, and exercise for three hours. PLEASE DON'T. This is not the way, and one of my biggest problems when clients want to lose weight is that they change too much, too fast, and none of it is sustainable.

2. Measure yourself NOW. I have a post here discussing how you might choose to do this. I recommend weight, body measurements, and progress photos for weight loss, dropping or adding based on your specific needs and any other goals you have. You may not want to, but when you have made progress, nothing is going to make you feel more proud than seeing your changes in numbers or photos. It's easy to dismiss small changes if you don't document them, and those small changes will fuel big change over time.

   
   

   

   
   

3. Start tracking what you eat and how you sleep without making immediate changes. (Part of starting slow!) Write it down on paper, or use an app (I like Chronometer, and have heard positive things about LoseIt, and for sleep, most phones have a health app built in which can help). It's good to have a baseline on your nutrition and sleep. One week is good, two weeks is great. Once you have written down everything you eat and drink in a week or two, and how much and how well you slept, you may see some obvious changes you need to make. If you have huge concerns or are just confused by all the data, seek out a dietician or healthcare professional. One of the first things they will ask you to do? Start tracking. You can let them know you are ahead of the game.

   
   

   

   
   

4. Assess your current movement level. Maybe you are already working out 5 times a week. Maybe you sit all day. You will need a baseline here as well to know how best to move forward. Again, once you've written it out, it may become obvious what changes you need to make.

   
   

You will notice this is all about seeing where you are now before you move forward. This is because most of us know what we need to do, we just don't have a solid plan for actually doing it. Seeing it all written out clearly before you may be the only thing you actually need to do. It also helps to know where you started. If you lose weight, but forgot to write down your starting weight, it is so easy to think nothing happened, to feel defeated. We don't want that.

So, you've done the preliminary work. How do you turn all this information into a routine?

Set a realistic goal. The most straightforward weight loss goal to set it simply a weight or measurement. You will also want to set a time limit. A realistic rate of weight loss is .5-2 lbs per week, and where you fall on that range will depend on how much weight you need to lose. If you want to lose 100lbs., you can probably go with 2lbs. a week, but if you want to just shed 15 or so, .5lb/week is going to be more realistic and achievable. "I want to lose 20 lbs. in 6 months," is achievable for most people who are overweight. It is important to have this larger goal which can be broken down into smaller pieces. What are those smaller pieces?

1. Set some nutrition goals, and continue tracking. This will be based on what you learned from tracking. A calorie goal, increasing your fruit and vegetable intake, dropping sodas and sugary drinks, eating less fried food, no more takeout, or making better choices at restaurants: I have recommended all of these, and still do, depending on your current diet and life. Just make sure it is tracked, and quantifiable. A calorie goal will do you no good if you are not actually tracking what you eat. "Eat more fruits and vegetables" is all well and good to say, but when it comes to daily practice, it needs to be "Eat at least one fruit and two vegetables every day this week," and you need to have a real, tangible way to count. Write it down, put it in your phone, find an app. Do not count on yourself to remember every day. Set reminders. Check in every week.

2. Decide on how much movement you want to add. I'll let you in on a secret. Exercise is not a requirement for weight loss. Will it make your weight loss easier, healthier, and more sustainable? Yes, if you are doing it right. If, like my example above, you are exercising 5-7 times a week already, and those sessions are 45-60 minutes or more, you might want to back off of that a little and focus on nutrition more, going to 3 long sessions and a little more walking or yoga to lower your stress levels and improve sleep and willpower. But if you're sedentary, start small. A daily walk, taking one class a week, visiting the gym daily to build a habit, but only doing 20 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical. We are building sustainable habits. Losing 20 pounds quickly because you worked out 1.5 hours a day may work, but once you aren't able to do that anymore, it will come back just as quickly.

3. Decide on the kind of movement you want to add. The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise and 2 days of muscle strengthening activity for optimal health. This is a great goal, and can be met with a 20 minute walk or jog each morning and 2 full body strength training sessions each week. If that sounds like an insane amount, let's back up. Maybe just start with walking each morning. It is much easier to build a daily habit that one that is "twice a week." And it doesn't have to be 20-30 minutes. You can start with 5 or 10. Or try taking a 10 minute walk after every meal, which not only puts you at 30 minutes for the day ( if you eat 3 meals), but also increases insulin sensitivity and reduces the likelihood of developing diabetes, or if you have diabetes, can lower blood sugar and reduce the amount of insulin you need to use. Strength training can be in a gym, but you could also do some pushups, squats, and bicycle crunches in your living room to get started.

   
   

I know this is a lot.

But is is also just advice. Doing it is the hard part.

This is also advice based on my experience as a data-and-feedback-loving trainer. If you like to do things a little more intuitively, I think that's great, and I hope it works for you, sincerely. Diff'rent strokes.

If you need support implementing these changes, reach out to me. I offer a free consultation, and even if personal training is not something you think is right for you now, I may be able to give you the outside eyes to help see where changes will make the biggest impact.

Best of luck in pursuing your health goal, whatever that looks like!